Lead Me Where I Want to Go
by Random Little Imp
Summary: When he stopped by her fire escape he never expected what he would find there. Thanks so much to my wonderful beta reader Megknsis! you are a doll!


It had been going on for months now. Even though Karen had made it clear, after his confession, that she wanted nothing to do with him or the devil of Hell's Kitchen, Matt still wanted her to be safe. To ease his mind he would often swing by her apartment on his way home to check up on her. If she wasn't there he could usually find her in her office at the paper. Knowing she was relatively safe and content made sleep come easier. He cared for her, wished things had gone differently, but knew this was better for her, and it was what she wanted. So here he was again, swinging silently down to the fire escape outside her window.

It was a little cooler out tonight than it had been in awhile and she had her window propped open slightly to let in a breeze. Not that Matt would have needed it open to hear what was going on inside the small apartment. It was a surprize at first, the moans making him think for a second that she might be hurt. It only took a moment to realize it was a moan of pleasure and she was not alone. The realization cut through his heart like a knife; Karen had moved on. She had found someone to fill the empty space he left. Matt had to admit, a tiny part of him had been hoping she was carrying a torch for him, that she'd call saying she'd changed her mind. Saying she wanted to try again. He knew better than to really believe that would happen, and now he was sure of it.

He was just about to leave, not wanting to eavesdrop on the two lovers a minute more when he smelled something familiar; sweat, grease and gun oil. His hands tightened into fists as he heard her whisper the name as she came.

"Frank."

It had been going on for weeks now. He would end up lying next to her, both of them out of breath and covered in a sheen of sweat. Pretty soon he would get dressed and leave without so much as a goodbye, before he had time to think too much about what was happening here. It was just casual between them, she had never asked for anything more than that, and he never offered, but he kept coming back. Whenever he couldn't be there, he had started dreaming about it, about her. About her eyes, her lips, her smile. The way she smelled, the way she gasped when he hit that one spot, the way his name sounded coming from her mouth. It amazed him that she even let him in the door, let alone into her bed.

Even though she had told him to stay away, that he was dead to her, he never left the shadows near her. She was drawn to danger and had no sense of self preservation, so she needed someone watching her back. He'd seen Red stopping by to check on her from time to time, never making his presence known either. Must still be on her shit list as well. No matter how good the devil was at protecting Hell's Kitchen he didn't know the kind of trouble Karen got into the rest of the time. Not the way Frank did.

He was there everyday, watching her wander through abandoned buildings, dark alleys and secluded parks hunting leads for her stories. He had secretly taken down more than a handful of would be muggers and one hired assassin just to make sure she got home safe and unharmed. Then one night everything changed.

He had been busy taking down a human trafficking ring earlier in the evening and hadn't seen her all day. From his hiding spot in the alley below he had watched the devil swing down to her fire escape from the roof. The boy was silent, Frank had to give him that, no one would notice him unless they were watching carefully. Frank had waited til the other man left before making his way up to the same spot.

He could hear the shower running when he got up there, but it shut off a moment later. Karen was singing some earworm of a pop song as she left the bathroom. Frank chanced a peek around the window frame to see Karen exiting the bathroom in nothing but a towel...wrapped around her hair. He moved so quickly to stop looking he actually lost his footing and one of his holsters banged against the metal railing.

Karen stopped singing. Frank knew his position was compromised and tried to leave but that traitorous holster was jammed between the bars of the fire escape, holding him to the spot. He quickly worked it free and turned to go only to find the barrel of her .38 pointed at his face.

"Frank?" Karen's voice held surprise but not fear. He really needed to talk to her about self preservation. She grabbed him by the edge of his flak vest and pulled him into the apartment through the window. Well, actually she just led him there; she wasn't strong enough to pull him anywhere he didn't want to go. "Get in here before someone sees you. God, Frank, I thought you knew how to be stealthy."

She had her robe on now, hastily tied around her waist. The towel forgotten on the bed. "I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to...uhm…" Frank's tongue stumbled over the words as he kept his eye on the nearly threadbare rug on the floor. Even her toes were sexy, damn it.

"What, you didn't mean to be a peeping tom or you didn't mean to get caught? Jesus Frank, I didn't take you for a pervert." she spat the words at him.

"I ain't no pervert!" Frank's head snapped up and he nearly yelled it at her. Karen's face looked like he'd just slapped her, and his anger disappeared. "I was just checking up on you, making sure you got home safe." His words were much gentler now, and he watched her lips curl up into a small smile. Her lips looking as soft as flower petals, he had trouble looking away.

"So you're the one that's been following me." Karen laughed at his confused expression. "I work the crime beat, Frank. Did you actually think I wouldn't hear about all the lowlifes that got beaten up everywhere I went chasing a story?" He tried to look as proud of her investigative skills as he was, but the soft scent of vanilla bean body wash was sending his mind in another direction entirely. "I figured it was Matt, but I have to admit, part of me wished it was you." She moved closer to him, finally setting the gun down. He could help but notice the drop of water that was running down her neck and in between her breasts to disappear under her robe. He was suddenly wanted nothing more than to watch that water run all the way down her body. "I've missed you Frank, much more than I thought I would."

He wasn't sure what possessed him to, but in that room standing so close to her, surrounded by the smell of her clean skin, he lost all of his self control and grabbed her by the waist. He pulled her to him, crashing his lips against hers, they were just as soft as he had imagined them to be. He expected her to push him away, to slap him, tell him to go. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss with a hungry passion. Frank spun them around and moved them towards the bed and they collapsed there, never breaking contact with each other.

And that's pretty much how it had been since. He'd show up on her fire escape every few days, and tap on her window. She'd drag him inside and they'd spend an hour or two making each other come apart. Then he would leave as silently as he showed up. They barely spoke during their time together and they never discussed what it all meant. Frank figured that Karen didn't want anything more from him than a release, and that was all he expected from her.

He felt guilty, not being consumed with the deaths of his family anymore, for finding something good in the world. This guilt worsened when he started dreaming about her. He still missed his family, he always would. Karen knew that, she was a smart lady. Smart, kind, beautiful as an angel, but with a darkness that Frank could relate to.

He knew he was falling for her when his dreams stopped being about her kisses and more about finding her lifeless body in some alley. About not getting there in time to save her. Those dreams woke him and kept him from sleeping for days, and they were getting more frequent. He was starting to fear closing his eyes.

He wasn't thinking about that now though. He was thinking about her leg that was draped over his stomach and the sweet smell of sex that still hung in the air. He tried to tell himself it was because of that he had missed the presence at the window, not that he was getting sloppy.

Frank couldn't see the man himself, but the horned shadow against the glass was unmistakable. Frank quickly sat up and slid out of the bed. He had a strong feeling that this conversation with Red was not going to be a friendly one.

Karen stirred and lifted her head from the pillow to look over at him, "Leaving already?"

"Yeah, " he said absently, "Someone I gotta meet." He slipped out the window just in time to see Matt swing up to the roof.

No sooner had his feet hit the tar roof was he sucker punched in the nose. Blood began pouring down his face, his nose was broken. He wasn't even sure if it had healed completely from the last break.

"Enjoy the show Red?" That one got him a right cross to the jaw, but he had to admit he kind of deserved it. Really not smart to talk shit to a jealous ex. "So this is how's it's gonna be?" Matt came at him again with a wild swing Frank easily dodged. Matt's anger clouded his mind, making him attack without thought. Frank shoved him to the side, unwilling to hurt the man blinded by jealousy and pain.

"How dare you! She trusted you when no one else did and this is how you treat her, forcing yourself on her! I should throw you off this roof for what you've done!" He was screaming at Frank, his mind twisting what happened into something dark and sinister. How could Karen reject him but willingly accept The Punisher, it couldn't be possible.

"Whoa there Red, nobody forced Karen to do anything." Frank was doing his best to keep a level head. He knew Matt was lashing out, trying to make sense of the situation, but he was pushing his luck.

Matt came at him again with a couple more wild swings and Frank just pushed him aside again. "Then you manipulated her, took advantage of her good nature for your own needs!"

When he came at Frank this time Frank shoved him into the wall surrounding the stairwell."That's enough choir boy. I ain't done no lying to Karen. That's your job. Maybe you can't see it, but she ain't the pretty innocent flower you want her to be. She's a grown woman who knows her own mind and what she wants. It just don't happen to be you anymore."

Matt stormed towards him, "Maria would be so disappointed in you." Before Matt could bring his hand back to strike, Frank hit him with a solid left hook, hard enough to knock him to the floor.

"Don't you dare bring her into this! You got no right!" Frank grabbed Matt by the collar and lifted him just high enough to land another blow to the face before dropping him and stomping away a few feet.

Matt stayed down, the fight seemed to leave him as he came back to himself. "Sorry Frank, that was a low blow."

"You're damned right it was." Frank was pacing, fuming a bit, trying to get a hold on his emotions. Finally he collapsed against the stairwell wall, drained and calm. Matt came over and sat next to him.

"You know you're not safe for her." Matt speaks in a hushed, matter of fact tone.

"Neither are you, but I won't lie to her."

"I know you won't. They'll come after you eventually, they'll come for you through her."

"You think I don't know that, Red? You think I don't have nightmares about finding her bloody and cold because of me? You think it doesn't keep me up at night?" Frank's getting worked up again, he stands and starts pacing, his hands grabbing at his short hair, the hair her long fingers were combing through less than an hour before. He knows it's all true but he can't make himself stay away.

"She doesn't deserve that. She deserves better, better than us." Matt says calmly before standing. "You love her." It's not a question.

"What?" Frank stops and stares at the other man. It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact. "No." he tries to deny it.

"You're in love with her. That's why it's tearing you up inside."

"I'm not…" But even as the words leave his lips he knows Matt is right, that it's true, and he can't deny it any longer.

"You should tell her. She deserves to know." Matt starts to walk to the edge of the roof but stops and turns his head towards the corner of the wall he had just been leaning against, "Karen." He says, before taking a running leap to the next rooftop.

Frank looks towards the corner that Matt was just addressing to see Karen step out from behind the wall. "You guys were making a lot of noise. Thought I'd have to break up the fight." She was in her pajamas now, arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't looking at him.

He didn't even realize he had moved, but suddenly he was standing right in front of her.

"Is it true, what Matt said? Are you in love with me?" Karen look at his face, right into his eyes.

He had never lied to her before, and he wasn't about to start now, "Yes."

She leans forward and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips, but when she moves away there is a smile on her face. "Come back to bed Frank." She takes his hand and leads him back down the stairs. She was never able to lead him anywhere he didn't already want to go.


End file.
